1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a prefabricated masonry wall system using foam core reinforced building panels and connectors. In particular, this invention is addressed to providing low-cost prefabricated, interconnecting, removable panels that can be used to form or refurbish subdivision walls or other free-standing walls, such as sound barriers parallel to roads and highways, retaining walls or privacy walls
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of rigid foam core building materials for construction of walls is well-known in the construction industry. For example, there are several manufacturers producing interlocking hollow rigid foam forms for reinforced poured concrete, used to create walls. The forms are assembled into the desired shape and are not removed after the concrete is poured, one reason therefor being that the foam is excellent acoustic as well as thermal insulation. This application is labor intensive and requires extensive on-site labor stacking the forms and pouring the concrete.
The use of prefabricated building materials incorporating rigid foam for constructing walls is also known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,21,046 to Hammond teaches interconnection of prefabricated building panels made of a plastic foam core between wafers of plastic resin or acrylic and portland cement. The wafers are intended to provide lateral strength and an attractive finished surface. The wafers themselves, however, do not contain any reinforcing steel. The panels are typically 4 ft., high which would require stacking them to create a typical privacy or sound-barrier wall of 8 feet in height. Structural rigidity is provided by reinforced pours of concrete into vertical parallel voids spaced approximately 2 to 4 feet apart. The panels would obviously not be removable for reuse once the reinforcing pours are made, and would not be economical for refurbishing existing free-standing walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,798 to Sachs describes block form which requires stacking of many rows or layers which are permanent, and does not call for reinforcing steel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,354 to Wynn teaches a reinforced, insulated wall construction of block, again requiring significant on-site stacking of layers and pours of concrete, rendering the wall non-removable.
U. S. Pat. No. 4,532,745 to Kinard discloses foam blocks with a thin coating of polyconcrete. These also require on-site stacking layer by layer and on-site pours of concrete.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,794 to Grieb describes interconnecting foam blocks, against stacked on site and then sheathed with fiberglass mat and coating with a thin layer of cement reinforced with cut fiberglass riving strands.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,642 to Gibbar describes another foam wall form for a concrete wall to be poured therein on-site.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,806 to Melnick teaches another foam block form to be assembled and to receive concrete on site in a permanent installation.
The Hammond patent refers to other inventions which describe related materials and methods, but they are dissimilar to the present invention.
Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a low-cost wall system of prefabricated interconnecting modular panels that do not require laborious manual stacking of layer upon layer of block.
Another object of this invention is to provide a wall system wherein the panels have channels to mate with pre-poured foundation columns, whereby the panels are removable and reusable.
A further object of this invention is to provide a modular wall system of panels which are factory made in a controlled environment.
Still another object of this invention is to provide modular wall panels with a foam core for acoustic and thermal insulation which have cementitious exterior surfaces reinforced with a steel grid.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a system of modular panels that can be easily slipped over existing walls needing repair or refurbishing.
A further object of this invention is to provide a wall system wherein the panels are supported only at each end thereof on foundations, so that there is room between the ground and the bottom edge of each panel for unimpeded flow of runoff waters.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a wall system adapted to use as a building wall as well as a subdivision partition or a highway sound barrier.
Other practical uses and adaptations of this invention should be apparent to those skilled in the art.
A prefabricated wall system for free-standing subdivision partitions, highway sound and visual barriers, privacy walls, or walls of a building comprises a plurality of prefabricated modular panels that are removably interconnected and installed. Each panel is essentially a factory-built sandwich having a foam plastic core between two composite reinforcing wafers. Each wafer is comprised of a layer of fiberglass coated with an exterior layer of concrete reinforced with a grid of steel bars. The foam core has a pair of vertical cylindrical voids sized and spaced to mate with foundation columns pre-poured on site. The ends of each panel are reinforced with a steel sling lifting assembly embedded in concrete that includes removable eyebolts at the top edge whereby the panels can be attached to cables at each end for hoisting above the foundation columns and then lowering into place. A vertical groove or trough at each end of the panels receives a removable connector, such as an expansion joint filler. Alternatively the panels can be formed with male tongues at one end and female grooves at the other for tongue-and-groove connection with adjacent panels. The foundation columns can support the panels above ground so that storm runoff waters pass freely thereunder.